humber river basin district consultation document december ... file3 chapter 1 a programme for river...

1

Humber River Basin District

Consultation document December 2006

2

Statement of Steps and Consultation Measures for preparing the Humber River Basin Management Plan1

In the Humber River Basin District (RBD) the Environment Agency has been working

with others to develop a shared understanding of our water environment and to

propose ways in which all those concerned can work together to agree and carry out

actions to preserve and protect this vital resource.

Working Together is the first step in developing a Management Plan for this River

Basin District. We have worked closely with the Humber RBD Liaison Panel whose members endorse the proposals.

We are issuing this document to help you understand what the river basin planning process will be in the Humber RBD and how and when you can get involved.

We invite you to study the proposals set out here and to give us your views.

Andrew Wood

Regional Director

1 If required, we can make this document available in a suitable format for blind or partially sighted readers, or in translation. Please contact: Design Team, Corporate Affairs, Environment Agency, Rivers House, 21 Park Square South, Leeds, LS1 2QG or e-mail [email protected]

3

Chapter 1 A programme for river basin planning

The Water Framework Directive2 establishes new and better ways of protecting and

improving rivers, lakes, groundwater, transitional (where freshwater and sea water mix) and coastal waters. Its focus is on River Basin Districts (RBDs). Figure 1 shows

the Humber RBD and adjacent RBDs.

Figure 1 Map of Humber RBD, showing Government Office boundaries

2 Further information on the Water Framework Directive is available at www.environment-

agency.gov.uk/wfd

4

Our Humber RBD presents challenges and opportunities. It covers an area of 26,109

square kilometres, ranging from the North York Moors to Birmingham, the Pennines to the North Sea and Stoke on Trent to Rutland. The catchment area is home to over

10.8 million people.

The principal rivers flowing to the Humber estuary are the Trent and the Ouse. The Trent flows from Staffordshire and drains industrial areas to the south and west of the

district. The Ouse, which has its source in the Pennines, drains the less densely

populated agricultural areas to the north and west, before joining with the Trent at Trent Falls to form the Humber.

The Humber Estuary has the second largest tidal range in the UK (7.2 metres) and is important for recreation and nature conservation. Most of the estuary is already or

proposed as a Special Protection Area, Ramsar site or Special Area of Conservation

under European conservation legislation.

The predominant land use is agriculture. Almost half of the land is arable (mainly

cereal crops) or horticultural, and half is used for grazing. However, there are a wide

variety of land uses and landscapes within the catchment.

Around 9000 square kilometres of land that surrounds the Humber Estuary is less

than five metres above sea level. The Environment Agency manages many flood defences within the estuary area, and a recent Flood Risk Management Strategy has

been developed which includes coastal realignment proposals.

It is the second largest river basin in England and Wales covering over 26,000

square kilometres.

Why we want your views

River basin planning encourages the active involvement of everyone with an interest in water. We would like you to play a part in the planning and management

process and help to produce a better water environment.

This document sets out a timetable and programme for developing the River Basin

Management Plans (RBMP) in the Humber RBD.

This is a public consultation and we welcome everyone's views. The document is particularly aimed at those who are likely to be affected by or have an interest in the

process for developing the RBMP.

We would like you to tell us what you think of our proposed timetable and

programme. Please say whether you think it will allow us to develop an effective

Plan and enable you to be involved in this process. We will use all the comments we receive to revise our proposals. The timetable and programme will be finalised by

September 2007, but we will begin to modify our approach as soon as possible after

the consultation ends in June 2007.

This consultation runs from 22 December 2006 to 22 June 2007. We intend to hold

discussions from April 2007 onwards about how we might modify the timetable or programme. Comments received before the end of March 2007 will be fed into this

discussion. We will of course also take account of comments received later within

the six-month period.

5

You can comment in a number of ways:

• by email to [email protected]• visiting the Environment Agency’s website and completing the online consultation

at www.environment-agency.gov.uk/wfd

• completing the tear-off form at the end of this document and sending it, or any

other comments to Viki Hirst, River Basin Programme Manager, Humber RBD, Environment Agency, Rivers House, 21 Park Square South, Leeds, LS1 2QG.

This consultation is being run in accordance with the criteria set out in the

Government’s Code of Practice on Consultation3:

If you have any queries or complaints about the conduct of the consultation, please contact:

Cath Beaver, Consultation Co-ordinator

Environment Agency, Rio House Riverside Drive, Aztec West

Almondsbury, Bristol BS32 4UD.

Email: [email protected]

3 Cabinet Office, September 2005. www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/regulation/consultation/code

6

Chapter 2 Timetable and major milestones in the process of preparing the River Basin Management Plan

Figure 2 shows the different stages at which we will produce and consult on

documents that contribute to the RBMP.

As well as the activities that take place in our RBD, some decisions about how we

can reduce or tackle problems affecting the water environment will be taken

nationally. We will provide information and views to feed into decisions taken outside the RBD on policy and funding arrangements, as well as voluntary agreements on

measures such as limiting the use of hazardous substances. These decisions will in

turn provide the framework for our planning.

Some of the milestones in the timetable are fixed, such as the three consultations

and the date for submission of the plan to the Secretary of State. We can be more

flexible on other elements.

Compliance with the consultation requirements for Strategic Environmental Assessment

We will carry out a Strategic Environmental Assessment of the RBMP. Regulations

for Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) require us to: • ask statutory consultees for their views on the scope of the assessment: we will

consult on the SEA scope as part of the consultation on the summary of

Significant Water Management Issues in 2007;• carry out a public consultation on the SEA environmental report: this will be

carried out as part of the consultation on the draft RBMP in 2008.

Consultation question 1

Does the proposed timetable allow the right amount of time for the different stages

and tasks? If not, what would you change?

8

Chapter 3 Access to information and opportunities for public consultation during the planning process

Access to information

We have a duty to ensure that stakeholders and the public have access to the

information they need to understand, comment on and get actively involved in the development of the RBMP.

We will: • post on our website all RBD planning documents (see Figure 2) and our

response to comments received as part of consultations - we will provide

electronic or hard copies of these papers on request;

• publicise through a range of channels as appropriate (e.g. stakeholder networks, printed publications, our website) opportunities for stakeholder input to the

planning process;

• on request make available translations of consultation documents and other key information;

• make available the papers from meetings of the Humber RBD liaison panel - we

will post these on our website and provide electronic or hard copies on request.

Public consultation

As Competent Authority, the Environment Agency is required to hold formal

consultations at three points in the river basin planning process:

• River Basin Planning: Working Together (Statement of the Steps and Consultation Measures for producing the River Basin Management Plan) – to

start 22 December 2006;

• Summary of Significant Water Management Issues – to start 22 December 2007

(though we are proposing to consult by summer 2007); • Draft RBMP – to start 22 December 2008.

We intend to use these consultations to make those likely to be affected by the plan for the Humber RBD more aware of the challenges facing our water environment and

the ways in which we and others will tackle them. We will:

• post the consultation document on the Environment Agency’s website, with links to it from the websites of organisations represented on the liaison panel;

• make copies available free of charge at our Head Office in Bristol and our

principal offices in the RBD – Environment Agency, Rivers House, 21 Park

Square South, Leeds, LS1 2QG; • publish a notice announcing the publication in the London Gazette and in a local

newspaper in the RBD;

• invite statutory consultees and the public to comment on the document; • provide facilities for both electronic and paper-based response to the

consultations;

• meet with main stakeholders to receive feedback and discuss options.


a) To what extent are the access to information and consultation arrangements

described here sufficient to meet your needs? b) What additional or alternative arrangements do you think should be put in place?

9

Chapter 4 Main public, private and voluntary sector organisations whose activities and interests are likely to be affected by the RBMP

Many organisations across the RBD have an interest in the water environment. We are keen to involve everyone, but recognise that we all have different roles and

interests and will need and wish to participate in different ways.

To help us understand this diversity, we have asked organisations and groups to

provide us with information for a stakeholder database4.

The organisations listed in Table 1 are statutory consultees who we are legally

required to consult or those considered to have a significant contribution to make at

the RBD level both to developing the Plan and delivering measures to protect and enhance the water environment. We will seek to actively involve them throughout the

river basin planning process.

Table 1 Main public, private and voluntary sector organisations whose activities and interests are likely to be affected by the RBMP

Name of organisation or sector Statutory

consultee

SEA

statutory consultee

Relevant

working groups

Relevant

partnerships

Relevant

plans

Secretary of State

Water Services Regulation

Authority (Ofwat)

Government Office for East Midlands, West Midlands,

Yorkshire and the Humber

Regional Environment Protection Advisory

Committees

Regional Fisheries, Ecology and Recreation Advisory

Committees

Regional Flood Defence

Committees

Nature conservation

authorities:

- Joint Nature Conservation

Committee

- Natural England

All local authorities

4 You can obtain a full list of the organisations included in our stakeholder database from

[email protected]

10

All local planning authorities

All National Park authorities

All harbour authorities

All navigation authorities

All water companies and

sewage companies

All local sea fisheries

committees

English Heritage

Businesses that rely on the

water environment

Health Protection Agency


Which organisations should be added to the table of public, private and voluntary sector organisations? Please tell us why they should be included.

11

Chapter 5 Membership and role of the Humber RBD liaison panel

Decisions taken by Government and by organisations above the RBD level about public policies, resource allocation and voluntary actions will set the context for river

basin planning. Many of these decisions will be taken as part of processes occurring

at the same time as the development of the RBMP (e.g. water company planning in the context of the Periodic Review).

We will therefore ensure that information about the RBD and the views of stakeholders are fed into decision-making at higher levels. We will also

communicate decisions taken above the RBD level so that these can be taken into

account in developing the RBMP.

Important planning decisions will be taken at the RBD level. The Humber RBD

liaison panel is a core strategic driver of river basin planning and is made up of

representatives of major stakeholder sectors. The liaison panel’s role is to discuss and influence the development of the RBMP and assist with its implementation.

Members are also expected to help promote broader stakeholder involvement5.

The liaison panel is a body of co-deliverers able to take the action required at the RBD level to meet the requirements of the Water Framework Directive. This includes

enabling and encouraging action by others. They contribute their own knowledge

and understanding; they share and communicate information and help to channel inputs from others in their sector.

In April 2006 the Environment Agency invited nominations from organisations wishing to represent their sector on the liaison panel.

Table 2 lists the members of the Humber RBD liaison panel.

Table 2 Composition of Humber RBD liaison panel

Sector Name of member Organisation

Environment Agency Andrew Wood Environment Agency

Regional Assembly Alison Hepworth East Midlands Regional

Assembly

Regional Assembly Chris Martin Yorkshire and Humber Assembly

Regional Development Agency

Jan Anderson Yorkshire Forward

Local Authorities Tbc tbc

Natural England Peter Nottage Natural England

Water Companies Tony Harrington Yorkshire Water Services

Water Companies David Wickens Severn Trent Water

Environmental non-

Governmental Organisations

Paul Learoyd Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust

Farming Laurie Norris National Farmers Union

5 The Terms of Reference for the liaison panel can be found at www.environment-

agency.gov.uk/wfd (Humber RBD)

12

Farming Helen Woolley Country Land and Business

Association East Midlands

Business and Industry Nick Pontone Yorkshire and Humber Chamber

of Commerce

Business and Industry Carl Banton Coal Authority

Consumers Hilary Putman Consumer Council for Water Yorkshire

Navigation Grahame Newman British Waterways

Ports Peter Barham Associated British Ports

13

Chapter 6 Working with other plans and processes

For the RBMP to bring changes to the management of the water environment, we

need to understand the ways in which other plans and strategies could create or add to pressures on the water environment or could provide measures to achieve the

RBMP’s objectives. Box 1 gives an example for this RBD. We then need to identify

the best ways of influencing those plans effectively.

Box 1 How spatial planning can deliver river basin planning objectives

Regional Spatial Strategies are being prepared for all government regions. These

will set out what future development goes where and when, across each region. Local Development Frameworks have to be in 'general conformity' so getting the

Regional Spatial Strategies to include the right water management policies will help

to deliver the WFD objectives. We have already issued initial advice to planning authorities on how they can help to deliver WFD objectives.

We have reviewed planning processes in the RBD and identified the plans and strategies listed in Appendix 1 as relevant to river basin planning. We will liase

closely with the organisations leading on these plans to ensure that:

• they contribute to achieving the objectives of the RBMP • the RBMP reflects and as far as possible supports their objectives.


Have we missed any plans and strategies relevant to river basin planning from the list in Appendix 1?

14

Chapter 7 How people can contribute to river basin planning and management

We have identified various groups and networks through which people currently participate in activities relevant to river basin planning, including those associated

with the planning activities identified in Chapter 6. These offer forums or

opportunities for stakeholders with different interests to share perspectives and in some cases to agree actions on subjects relevant to the water environment. Some

examples are Yorkshire Water and their Environment Advisory Panel,

Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust and their network with Environmental Non Government Organisations, Yorkshire and Humber Chamber of Commerce, British

Waterways and Local Strategic Partnerships.

One gap that was identified early on was lack of an over-arching body at RBD level. No existing committees or groups were available to play this role so we set up the

RBD liaison panel as a new forum for co-deliverers to discuss and influence the

development of the RBMP and assist with its implementation.

At other levels stakeholders are already involved in groups and networks looking at

subjects relevant to the water environment. Many feel that these provide good

channels through which to contribute to the RBMP and don’t want us to set upsomething new if it duplicates activities already going on.

We decided to look at groups and networks in the RBD to see whether we could build links with them. We were interested in the following four criteria:

• the geographical area covered;

• the sectors involved;• scale of engagement (from small specialist groups to broad public

involvement);

• issue focus (single issue to multiple objectives).

The full list of existing channels and networks and their characteristics is provided in

Appendix 2.

This information suggested three approaches we could use to involve stakeholders

by piggy-backing on existing networks or forums. Box 2 summarises these options:

Box 2 Summary of options for organising stakeholder engagement in river

basin planning

Option 1 Working through existing Environment Agency engagement

processes

This option focuses effort on established Environment Agency engagement

mechanisms. These include our two regional advisory committees and our Regional

Flood Committee and groups involved in the development of Catchment Abstraction

Management Strategies and Flood Management Plans.

Advantages of this approach include the fact that the Environment Agency as

competent authority already has mechanisms in place to work with these groups, and

15

that the individuals involved are already familiar with a range of issues affecting the

water environment.

Some disadvantages of this approach are that many of the existing groups are

focussed on a single issue or a limited range of issues, and that taken together they

do not cover the range of WFD issues.

Focussing effort on existing Environment Agency engagement processes is also

unlikely to significantly broaden the range of views.

Option 2 Working through existing stakeholder-led forums and engagement processes

This option focuses effort on using existing engagement processes led by other organisations. These include groups such as ‘OnTrent’. This option provides the

Environment Agency as competent authority with an opportunity to significantly

broaden engagement on issues affecting the water environment.

These engagement processes often to have a broader agenda and can provide new

perspectives and the opportunity to secure new solutions.

On the other hand, the groups involved may be less used to dealing with issues

affecting the water environment, or in some cases have such a broad agenda that

river basin planning issues may not be dealt with effectively.

Option 3 Working through a combination of existing Environment Agency

and stakeholder led forums and engagement processes

This option focuses effort on using a combination of the existing Environment Agency

and stakeholder led engagement processes outlined above.

Because the two approaches are complementary, we will be better able to plug any gaps that would be apparent if we were to focus our efforts on either Environment

Agency or stakeholder led forums and engagement processes alone.

Table 3 summarises our assessment of the options against our four criteria.

Table 3 Summary table of options for organising stakeholder engagement

in river basin planning

Option Geographical

Coverage

Sector

coverage

Stake-

holder coverage

Issue focus

1 Majority of groups working on local

scale with a smaller

number working at Environment Agency

Area and RBD

scales.

Local level groups tend to

include a

selection of relevant sectors.

The groups

focused at a wider

Groups dominated by interested

parties and

technical specialists (who

are usually

provided by the Environment

Majority of groups are

multiple issue

focused with broad remits.

There are

some specialist

16

geographical

scale tend to have a wider

range of sectors

represented.

Agency). single issue

led groups.

2 Mostly working at local scale. Fewer

groups at the RBD

scale.

Broad range of sectors

involved.

Interested parties tend to dominate

the groups.

Technical specialists who are

involved tend to be

from other

organisations.

Majority of groups are

multiple issue

focused with broad remits.

There are

some

specialist single issue

led groups.

3 Most groups work at the local (catchment)

scale however RBD

scale is also

covered.

Enables a diverse mix of

sector

representation,

including specialist

groups.

Interested parties are represented

and enables input

by relevant

technical specialists.

Covers a mix of groups

working on a

broad range of

issues as well as including

specialist

single-issue groups.

The Liaison Panel prefer option 3 for the Humber RBD given that there are many

Environment Agency and stakeholder led groups which are currently involved with catchment management which could include WFD requirements.


a) To what extent do you agree that our preferred option for using organisations and

networks is an effective approach to involving people in river basin planning?

b) What other approaches to involving people can you suggest?

17

Chapter 8 The main methods we will use for engagement

There are many different ways of involving stakeholders, and better engagement

should not mean “more of the same”.

Different stages in the planning process offer different opportunities and priorities for

participation. There is no point holding a mass event for members of the public at a

stage when specialist input is needed. Equally, it would be a mistake to ask technical experts to specify stakeholder values; even if they succeeded in reflecting values, it

would be legitimate for members of the public to question the validity of the process.

Some of the activities (e.g. the cost and benefit assessments) will be shaped largely by decisions taken outside the RBD. However we will need input from stakeholders

on their implications for the RBD.

Organisations and individuals in the Humber RBD have clear preferences about how

they want to be involved. We have asked stakeholders to tell us how they would like

to participate. Do they want just to receive information, to participate in consultations

or to become actively involved?

Many of the measures that we will need to take to improve the water environment

may affect groups and communities who tend not to be involved in processes of this kind. We will make information accessible to them, for example by providing

translations on request, and we will draw on positive examples of this kind of

engagement. Box 3 describes one such group which is an example of an established route we would wish to tie in with.

Table 4 sets out the principal methods we propose to use for engagement. This is

not intended to provide a detailed design of the participation process but to give an

idea of how you will be able to obtain information and make your input.


To what extent do you think the participation methods described in Table 4 will

achieve adequate stakeholder involvement in river basin planning?

Please let us have your suggestions.

Box 3 Case Study: Project Kingfisher

Park Rangers from Birmingham City Council lead Project Kingfisher whose aim is to improve the biodiversity of the River Cole through working with the community

group ‘Friends of Project Kingfisher’. This concentrates on the River Cole as it

runs through the centre of Birmingham and is a well supported successful initiative.

18

TABLE4MainmethodsforengagementintheRBDduringtheplanningprocess

METHOD

DATE

Activity

WHOWILLBE

INVOLVED

Publication

Electronicmethod

Meeting

Winter2006

Agreemainpressuresonthewater

environmentandrisksofnotmeeting

objectives

Liaisonpanel

X

Liaisonpanel

XSpring2007

Identifydefaultobjectives

Suggestapproachestoaddressrisks

Contributetopreliminarycostandbenefit

analysis

SEAscoping

Statutory

Committees

X

Summer

2007

ConsultationonSignificantWater

ManagementIssuesandscopeofSEA

Allstakeholders

andthepublic

xX

Liaisonpanel

XSpring2008

Assesscostsandbenefits

Statutory

Committees

X

Liaisonpanel

XSpring2008

Assessenvironmentaleffectsofmeasures

(SEA)

Statutory

Committees

X

Liaisonpanel

XSummer

2008

Developdetailedoptionsforaddressingrisks

Statutory

Committees

X

Dec

2008

ConsultondraftRBMPandEnvironmental

Report

Allstakeholders

andthepublic

xX

Liaisonpanel

XSummer

2009

Agreepreferredoption

Statutory

Committees

X

*IneachEnvironmentAgencyregiontherearethreeStatutoryCommittees:theRegionalFloodDefenceCommittee(RFDC),theRegionalEnvironmental

ProtectionAdvisoryCommittee(REPAC)andtheRegionalFisheries,Environment,RecreationandConservationAdvisoryCommittee(RFERAC)

19

Chapter 9 How we will deal with significant differences over the RBMP

We will seek to promote agreements with other organisations about the content of the

RBMP we submit to the Secretary of State for approval.

If we are unable to resolve a disagreement with another public body about the content of

the RBMP, we will highlight the matter to the Secretary of State as soon as possible.

We will not wait until the RBMP is submitted for approval (or for any other Water

Framework Directive deadline).

The information about any dispute submitted to the Secretary of State will be made

available on our website.

In the case of disagreements between stakeholders, the liaison panel will assist and

guide the resolution of conflict.

20

Consultation form

You can use this form to provide your comments on our proposals. Just tear out this

page or print it off, fill it out and return it to the address at the end. Alternatively, you can fill in your comments online at www.environment-agency.gov.uk/wfd


Does the proposed timetable allow the right amount of time for the different stages

and tasks? (Please note that the Water Framework Directive sets some river basin

planning milestones that cannot be moved.)

Yes No

If no, what would you change?


a) To what extent are the access to information and consultation arrangements

described here sufficient to meet your needs?

Score Score 1 to 4, where 1 = poor, 2 = fair, 3 = good, 4 = excellent.

b) What additional or alternative arrangements do you think should be put in place?


Which organisations should be added to the table of public, private and voluntary

sector organisations? Please tell us why they should be included.


Have we missed any plans and strategies relevant to river basin planning from the list in Appendix 1? Please list them here.

21


a) To what extent do you agree that our preferred option for using organisations and networks is an effective approach to involving people in river basin planning?

Score Score 1 to 4, where 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree

3 = agree, 4 = strongly agree.

b) What other approaches to involving people can you suggest?


To what extent do you think the participation methods described in Table 4 will achieve adequate stakeholder involvement in river basin planning?

Score Score 1 to 4 where 1 = inadequate (stakeholder involvement),

2 = fair, 3 = good, 4 = excellent.

Further comments

Personal information section (optional):

Name

Job title

Organisation

Address

E-mail

Would you like to receive further information about river basin management?

Yes No

How would you prefer us to communicate with you? (default is e-mail)

Post Email

Data Protection Notice: The information you provide will be used by the Environment

Agency to produce the first Humber River Basin Management Plan6 in 2009. We may need to use your personal information to contact you during this consultation period in

the way you indicate in order to clarify comments. We may make your information

available to members of the Humber River Basin Liaison Panel, or our agents/representatives to do these things on our behalf.

If you do not want us to contact you please tick this box.

Send to: Viki Hirst, Humber RBD, Environment Agency, 21 Park Square South, Leeds,

LS1 2QG. Email: [email protected]

6 Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and Environmental Information Regulations 2004 we are required to disclose information that

we hold on request, subject to the exemptions/ exceptions and the 'public interest test' set out in the legislation.

humber river basin district consultation document december ... file3 chapter 1 a programme for river...

Documents